The saga of the Missing King of Stormwind continues and the end is almost here! Lo’Gosh and his companions enter Stormwind Keep to confront a vicious black dragon and face the evil usurper of King Varian’s throne.

Magni returns to Ironforge, along with Lo’Gosh and his comrades in arms. In Stormwind, Marshall Windsor goes missing after stumbling upon clues to the disappearance of King Varian. It’s off to Blackrock Depths for our heroes; but are they prepared for what they will find?

In Stormwind, Prince Anduin digs into the disappearance of his father, King Varian. Meanwhile, Lo’Gosh, Thargas, Valeera and Broll continue to fight the Dark Irons as they search for Thargas’ brother, Hjalmar. This unique group must summon the strength to face insurmountable odds, but at what cost?

Lo’Gosh, Valeera, Broll, and Thargas make their way to Ironforge via a circuitous route through the Wetlands. And back in Stormwind, Prince Anduin suspects all is not as it seems with his father, King Varian.

“The Return” begins a new story arc set in the WORLD OF WARCRAFT. Upon learning he is in fact the missing king of Stormwind, Lo’Gosh returns to reclaim his throne with his comrades-in-arms Valeera, and Broll. But all is not as it seems in the eastern kingdom, especially if one informed dwarf has anything to say about it. Enter Thargas Anvilmar!

During a sea voyage to Menethil Harbor, Lo’Gosh is attacked by the naga, led by a powerful female siren. Further secrets of Lo’Gosh’s past are revealed and Valeera proves far more powerful — and more vulnerable — than any, but Broll, had suspected.

So after the 5 page preview leaves off, the team is battling the Naga. Broll mentions that this is just like Dire Maul only for less money. Lo’Gosh moves to Valeera who makes nearly the same quip, illustrating how close they are becoming.

The Naga Siren leading the attack, Morgala Darksquall, gets upset that her guys are getting owned so badly. She summons up a huge Couatl (last seen in Warcraft III: Frozen Throne) to take care of business. In addition, she starts lobbing Arcane energy bursts from what looks to be an enchanted trident.

Broll gets scared that Valeera will absorb the arcane energy and succumb to her people’s addiction, but Valeera isn’t hearing it. The Sea Witch starts casting an arcane burst, but the Blood Elf leaps out at her and snags the weapon. Broll freaks out because now she has the tempting magical item in her grasp, so he jumps out after her. The nagas converge on him as he goes aquatic form, and Valeera uses the trident to kill them. Broll is angry she put herself in danger like that, but Valeera thinks arcane energy isn’t that bad. She says fear of it is just Night Elf superstition and even if it was dangerous it would have been worth the risk to save him. Broll breaks the trident and drops it to the bottom of the sea, then carries her back to the ship while they argue about it.

Meanwhile, Lo’Gosh nails the Couatl in the heart with a nearby harpoon. This inadvertently causes the beast to crash into the ship and do some damage. The sea witch says it was a lucky shot, and then recognizes him. She says he’s the same “grub” that they captured before. She goes for a forked lightning, but gets an elbow to the face for her troubles. He grabs her by the throat getting ready for the final swipe, but when he does he gets struck with another barrage of memory flashbacks…

He’s on an island getting attacked by Naga.

He’s dragged from a ship bound for Theramore. Looks like he’s being attacked by a blond human.

He’s crying at the funeral of his wife. The Queen is definitely dead.

He’s standing before Stormwind Nobles at his coronation. It looks like Katrana Prestor is there.

The siren is confused, and says she knew he was a weakling. However, it seems as if Lo’Gosh now really knows who he is. In a “This is Sparta!!!”-like moment he shouts: “I am King of Stormwind!”, mentions that nobody, not the naga, nor the scourge, nor the lords of the legion, will keep him from his people, then cuts his enemy in half. The other naga see this, and decide to make a tactical retreat.

The intensity even startles Broll and Valeera, but he assures them he’s both the King and the Gladiator, and will always be loyal to his friends. He commands they all get to work making repairs and healing the sailors so they can get back to the Eastern Kingdoms ASAP. Clouds are gathered above the ship in the shape of a massive wolf head, implying the spirit of the Demigod Lo’Gosh may indeed be with them.

Overall not a particularly groundbreaking issue, but it served as the final transition away from the Kalimdor story arc. It repeatedly showed Broll and Valeera willing to die to protect the other, they should just get it on already. It also cemented Varian’s knowledge of who he is. I’m not sure if all his memories are back, or if he got back just enough to make him even more focused, I guess we’ll find out next time.

The past comes alive as our heroes reach Theramore, where the lore of Jaina Proudmore reveals Lo’Gosh’s hidden identity. But has it truly done so? Meanwhile, the assassin and the naga simultaneously seek to destroy Lo’Gosh before he can reach the end of his quest.

Written by Walter Simonson; Art by Ludo Lullabi and Sandra Hope; Covers by Jim Lee and Samwise Didier

PREVIEW

SPOILERS

After the 5 page preview leaves off, Valeera manages to get on her wyvern and escape the sentinels. They recall that a Blood Elf female was supposedly one of the Dire Maul champs, and since she was skilled enough to escape them they figure she was telling the truth and don’t bother to give pursuit. Valeera heads to Darnassus where she expects to be unwelcome …

Tyrande is thankful for what happened with the Idol in Thistlefur, but senses some bad magic around Lo‘Gosh. She sends him to Theramore figuring Jaina can restore his memories because she is a big-time mage. Since Sharptalon was hurt in their recent battles, they check him out with the Rut’theran Hippo master who says they should be able to make the trip. Here’s one of those little good things about the book, the master is Vesprystus, the actual hippo master located in the village in WoW, and even is drawn to look like him. This kind of little attention to detail pleases me greatly because it could have been easily looked over.

Valeera stealthily lands on the island to look around, and overhears some nelf babes asking Vesprystus about the DM champs. He tells them they’re too late because they already left for Theramore, and mentions that they must be real famous because some human on a gryphon was just asking about them too. This of course was the Assassin. Valeera then sets off pushing her wyvern to the max to try and save them.

She gets close enough to see Broll and Lo’Gosh flying over Dustwallow, but the assassin is right behind them. They don’t notice because Broll is basically giving Lo’Gosh the grand tour. Broll even mentions that the marsh is a good source for herbs like Stranglekelp, Liferoot, and Goldthorn (which it actually is in game, again great attention to detail). The assassin is lining up a crossbow shot, when Valeera nails him with a deadly throw and tackles him from his flying mount. They land and get tangled in some spider webs. An old lady and her assistant notice this impressive aerial battle.

Jaina is looking forward to seeing Broll again, remembering his heroics at Hyjal. She also looks hot, unlike her much hated trading-card image. You can understand why all the WC universe males want to get with her. She sensed Lo’Gosh has really bad sorcery on him and she knows lots of spells, but never saw this before. She’ll need to consult her chamberlain …

Valeera and the assassin are battling it out in the web. She wants to know who wants Lo‘Gosh dead. He doesn’t know, and even if he did he wouldn’t tell her. He sends his gryphon to grab her, she stabs it in the eye. Looks like he’s going to finish it, but he gets attacked from behind by a giant tarantula (just like the ones you see in the marsh in-game). The Old Lady decides to help the wounded Blood Elf, who senses power about her. Turns out, she’s Aegwynn. They bring her back to Theramore for a real healer.

Back in town and time to help Lo’Gosh. Even the former Guardian is puzzled by the dark aura, so they do a ritual to see what they can find. He sees all the visions he had before, and new ones. They’re not entirely clear. Apparently his wife was struck by a flying stone and killed. Their was anguish and darkness, but then he remembers his purpose. He was going to Theramore! There is apparently a wall that neither mage can get through guarding the core, and they can only scratch the surface. However, Jaina has seen enough to figure out who he is. He’s Varian Wrynn, the missing King of Stormwind they all gave up for dead!

Now, he’s got to find out what happened to him between the time he left for Theramore and the time he woke up in Durotar, and he needs to find the identities of his enemies. However, he’s got to act really carefully because his son is still in SW and acting rashly could endanger him. They decide to head to the Eastern Kingdoms, but Broll wants to free Valeera first. Too late, she’s there and jumps into Broll’s arms. Although rumors had Valeera and Lo’Gosh supposedly hooking up, I haven’t seen anything at all to indicate this. If anything, it seems like Valeera and Broll are developing a relationship, although it could be a father-daughter type thing (Broll’s own daughter is dead). They’re all happy to be reunited, and they’re off on bost to the eastern kingdoms to find out who’s responsible and kick their asses.

Final thoughts:

Despite the rumors from the cover, there was no hints at a Jaina-Varian relationship.

This was the best issue yet. Amazing artwork. Incredible attention to detail and respect to established lore, the likes of which absolutely puts the manga and many of the novels to shame. Lots of famous faces, Fandral, Tyrande, Jaina, Aegwynn. The entire comic so far has really embodied the spirit of (world of) warcraft in a way few of the other mediums have.

Yes, we knew who he really was long ago. That doesn’t really detract from the entertaining journey he’s gone on to me.

Lo’Gosh and Broll continue their quest and encounter harpies and furbolgs in Thistlefur. Will the duo succeed in freeing the furbolgs from the fel magic that curses them? Plus, Valeera continues tracking the mysterious figure who follows Lo’Gosh from the shadows.

Written by Walter Simonson; Art by Ludo Lullabi and Sandra Hope; Covers by Jim Lee and Samwise Didier

PREVIEW

SPOILERS

On their way to Thistlefur Hold, Broll and Lo’gosh are attacked by Harpies. Lo’gosh(the amnesic human) suggests Broll to use his magic against the Harpies to blow them away. Broll refuses to for fear of becoming unstable. This close to the corrupted idol is causing fel emanations increase his rage. Last time, at Warsong Gulch, Broll unleashed his fel rage and that caused a tremendous storm that not only defeated the Horde, but threatened to destroy most of Ashenvale.

Broll jumped off Sharptalon to grab hold of a Harpy in hopes to land safely where he may shapeshift into bear form to fight the Harpies. However, things get worse as they land amidst a Thistlefur Furbolg camp. The Harpies were attacked by the Furbolgs as well, forcing them retreat.

A corrupted furbolg shaman asks Broll and Lo’gosh their reason to come to the Thistlefur Hold. Broll has come to retrieve the Idol of Remulos, a small statue shaped like a green dragon.

The furbolg shaman ordered its breathren to attack the thieves who have come to steal their treasure … the source of their corruption. Broll commands underground roots to rise and entangle his enemies. However, this close to the corrupted idol causes his spell to uncontrollably entangle Lo’gosh as well.

The Furbolg Shaman calls upon the element of fire to free himself. Lo’gosh yells at Broll to loosen up from the grasp of the corrupted idol’s control and to negate its fel energy twisting Broll as much as it does the furbolgs.

Broll settles down his consuming fel rage and loosens up the roots to release Lo’gosh from its grip. Broll calls upon Sharptalon to land to take them away toward the nearby Thistlefur Hold. The corrupted Idol of Remulos lies deep within the cave. Its closeness fills Broll with a rush of power calling and summoning him to the idol. The idol of Remulos is doubly attuned to Broll, both by Remulos (son of Cenarius) and by Azgalor the Pitlord who sent a foul demonic magic flowing into the Idol of Remulos and through Broll during the battle at Mount Hyjal. The closer Broll gets to the corrupted idol, the more it is driving him to madness.

The hyppogryph Sharptalon takes both of them above the Thistlefur Hold cave. There Broll commands roots to grow and to create a tunnel between the outside surface deep into the chamber where the idol of Remulos is kept. Broll and Lo’gosh climb down the roots to the interior of the cave.

A corrupted furbolg calls the alarm to protect the idol. Many of them rush into the chamber, but are stopped cold when Broll commands the roots to grow and block the entrance of the cave tunnel leading to this chamber. Broll approaches the dais where the corrupted Idol of Remulos is kept at. Broll describes the energy emanations as nature energy overlaid with fel energy. Before reaching for the idol, a green dragon seething with fel energy materializes to protect the idol.

Lo’gosh attempts to distract it, while Broll touches the idol to enter the Emerald Dream. Broll asks Lo’gosh to protect his inert body while he roams the Emerald Dream. Easier said than done as the green dragon becomes corporeal and incorporeal at will. Broll requests Lo’gosh, if Furbolgs break into the chamber, to promise he will destroy the idol even if that meant his demise in the Emerald Dream.

In the Emerald Dream, Broll is surrounded by Fel energy. There he fights a manifestation of his own fel rage that has consumed him since the loss of his daugther at Mount Hyjal. Broll fights the fel bear spirit he calls upon when shapeshifting into bear form. In that moment he realizes why the bear spirit had remained with him while other animal spirits had abandoned him. Broll understands. A druid houses the spirit forms, however he has failed by allowing the spirit form control him with rage and fury fed by the fel energy channeled by Azgalor and the fury of his own daughter’s demise.

The memory of his daughter convinces him the fel bear spirit has changed him into something his daugther wouldn’t be proud of. Before engaging the fel bear spirit, the stormcrow spirit grabs Broll into the sky.

Broll battles the fel bear spirit once more and negates his control over him again. The other spirit animals have returned to aid Broll: the stormcrow, the stag, the panther, the seal. Broll calls upon the fel bear spirit as brother. The fel bear spirit is the embodiment of Broll’s soul, despoiled by fel energy, pain and rage. With the help of the other spirits Broll attempts to restore the balance within himself and the spirit bear.

The spirit stag brings the staff weapon to Broll. The staff banishes any vestige of fel energy from the spirit bear upon contact. Broll rejects the rage of his past caused by the loss of his daughter at Mount Hyjal combined with Azgalor’s fel energy which fed his rage and fury all these years.

In the material world of Azeroth, Lo’gosh keeps protecting Broll’s physical body from harm. The fel green dragon is about to attack Lo’gosh when it suddenly vanished. At that moment, the corrupted Thistlefur furbolgs broke into the chamber by slashing away the giantic roots with their axes.

At this moment, Lo’gosh was bound by his promise to destroy the corrupted Idol of Remulos if the Furbolgs broke past the roots. Lo’gosh rose his sword high to destroy the idol, but a triumphant Broll stands up from his slumber claiming to have cleansed the idol from Azgalor’s taint, regaining his true self. The furbolgs’s corruption is no more as well, as the idol of Remulos was their source of corruption. The furbolgs ask Broll to take the idol with him and away from their hold.

The next day, Broll and Lo’gosh fly on top of Sharptalon toward Darnassus. The huge tree, Teldrassil may be seen in the horizon. Word had reached Arch-druid Fandral Staghelm that Broll had cleansed the lost Idol of Remulos and sought to meet Broll to verify its purity.

Note: The artwork of Teldrassil resembles slightly the concept art shown at BlizzCon 2007 for the Warcraft film by Legendary Pictures.

Lo’Gosh remembers more secrets from his past as he and Broll fight alongside the Night Elves in Warsong Gulch. Will Lo’Gosh’s gladiator prowess and Broll’s druidic rage be enough to ensure their success? Plus, Valeera uncovers an assassin’s plot while in Thunder Bluff, and must warn Lo’Gosh of the danger headed his way.

Written by Walter Simonson; Art by Ludo Lullabi and Sandra Hope; Covers by Jim Lee and Samwise Didier

Rehgar takes Lo’Gosh and Broll to Thunder Bluff for a cleansing ritual. Unfortunately for the pair, lurking beneath the surface of the Pools of Vision is a force like nothing they’ve ever faced before! The future looks dark for Lo’Gosh as new threats mount against him in this epic title from Walter Simonson and Ludo Lullabi!

Dire Maul is emptying out. Rehgar’s team leaves cheered on by everyone. Between the sale of Valeera and his personal winnings from the arena matches, Rehgar’s set up for life.

Broll is angry that Valeera was sold to a different team. Helka Grimtotem’s all-female team has an orc and a troll, who push and pick on Valeera. She plans to escape and rescue Broll and Lo’Gosh from Rehgar.

Captain Grizzgear, also newly rich from bettin on Rehgar, takes the team to Thunder Bluff. Broll tells Lo’Gosh of the Pools of Vision, where he hopes Lo’Gosh will regain some of his memory. Broll also wants to see his lost daughter, who resembles Valeera in a way.

A red-masked Defias thug meets with a blonde, robed person, face hidden in shadows. He swears to the person that Lo’Gosh is the one they took and tells the person that the team headed to Thunder Bluff. He is rewarded a bag of gold. The hooded figure then instructs a henchman named Gakca to kill the masked man and contact the Stormwind Assassins’ Guild.

Arriving at Thunder Bluff, Broll tells Lo’Gosh there is friction between Magatha and Cairne. She meets them personally as Rehgar wants a tauren to replace Valeera. She disdainfully calls Cairne a pacifist and an old fool, and appears eager to provide Rehgar with Grimtotem warriors. They would not be slaves but indentured gladiators for the orc, and she wants her warriors to be well-trained and battle-hardened (I sense trouble for Cairne in the future…).

Magatha tells the party that a cave elemental has been loosed inside the Pools of Vision and chased all the Forsaken out. Cairne is not in town.

In Dire Maul, Helka sends her team off to Thunder Bluff on wyverns. Valeera rides one named Bristlefur, and her escort Tarm Grimtotem. The blood elf launches off with a kick, pretending to not know how to navigate the wyvern, and Tarm barely manages to hold on.

Valeera distracts Tarm with talk of forests and plains, then yanks Bristlefur around. The tauren is flung off, and lands on a wyvern below. Valeera steers the beast below the canopy and hides.

Against Magatha’s warnings, Broll and Lo’Gosh enter the Pools of Vision. Their chains are removed by the slavers who guard the entrance to the caves. The two sit down into the pools and study its waters.

Lo’Gosh sees the shadow of a fair-haired female. She reaches out to him and touches him. His vision-self seems only a few years younger. She calls him her husband and tells him his people needs him… that his son needs him. In her arms, she holds an infant boy who yells “papa!”

Broll sees raging fires. His daughter yells “An’da!” which also means papa, in Elvish. There is fire everywhere, and his daughter screams for him to save her. Then she turns into Valeera, who also yells for him to help her. She reaches for him, but her hand turns to stone. In fact, it is the hand of the cave elemental, who picks Broll up one-handed. It is a huge creature, similar to the crystal colossi in Outland.

The cave elemental tries to drown Broll but he cracks its skull and blinds one of its eyes. It roars, breaking Lo’Gosh from his trance. The elemental drops Broll and is distracted by Lo’Gosh when he breaks a rock over its foot. Lo’Gosh gets picked up, and smashes another rock into a stalagmite, causing a cave-in. The giant beast gets crushed, while the humanoids get away. Lo’Gosh finally plans to escape from Rehgar in order to find his son and his people.

Hamuul Runetotem is having dinner with Rehgar. Neither of them like Magatha, and Hamuul suspects her of being behind the elemental. Lo’Gosh and Broll are taken to the arch druid’s tent. Hamuul tells the legend of the original Lo’Gosh – a massive, white wolf-beast renowned for its ferocity in battle, 10 000 years old when the first invasion came to Azeroth. (As a creature demi-god, he can be compared to Malorne, Agamaggan, and Ursol/Ursok). The wolf god slaughtered hundreds of demons before he fell in the invasion. But not even death could destroy his will.

Broll continues the tale, describing the great ghostly wolf the night elves call Goldrinn. He aided the night elves in Eldre’Thalas in holding their city against the Burning Legion, only to vanish after battle and never be seen again. Hamuul says the wolf’s legend extends through Azeroth, to trolls, goblins and dwarves who all have their own version of the story. In each tale, Lo’Gosh’s unyielding will and sheer ferocity enable him to push through the boundaries of the afterlife to aid his people.

Hamuul gives Lo’Gosh a feather. The warrior is sceptical of the gift, but Broll recognizes it as a magical hippogryph feather. The night elf uses it to call the hippogryph Sharptalon from Ashenvale, and runs off with Lo’Gosh and the screaming guards in tow. Lo’Gosh cuts off the slavers by slashing the rope bridge behind him.

Meanwhile, Valeera arrives wyvernback under the cover of night. She sees the hippogryph land and take off again with Broll and Lo’Gosh on its back. Rehgar is close by, but seems quite unperturbed that his finest warriors are escaping. While Valeera spies on him, Rehgar tells Hamuul that in a way, they were always as free as their hearts let them be. He knows Hamuul let them escape on purpose, but nevertheless sends slavers on wyverns after them.

In Stormwind, the cloaked blonde scryes on Lo’Gosh’s flight though a glowing golden disc. Nearby stands a tall stately man with a very long golden braid, dressed in black leathers. He is the assassin sent to kill Lo’Gosh, and his work is guaranteed by the Assassins’ Guild. The cloaked figure wants Lo’Gosh killed subtly so as to not draw any unwarranted attention. It’s vital that his death appear natural. As they watch, a slaver knocks Lo’Gosh off Sharptalon’s back to tumble through open air high above the plains of Mulgore…